Why doesn’t DNR relocate nuisance bears?
Black Bears are a part of Maryland’s natural ecosystem. Most nuisance bear situations can be handled through education. The Wildlife and Heritage Service does not routinely trap nuisance bears. The first step in handling a nuisance bear situation is to help the landowner take appropriate measures to discourage bears from becoming a nuisance. While preventive measures usually provide the desired outcome, persistent bears may require additional measures. At this point, the Wildlife & Heritage Service may choose other options for dealing with nuisance bears. These options may include the use of dogs to chase the bear from the affected property or trapping and aversively conditioning the nuisance bear on site. Aversive conditioning is a behavior modification tool that uses negative feedback to discourage bears from repeating their nuisance behavior. Negative feedback is given through a combination of pepper spray, nonlethal rubber projectiles fired from a shotgun, and pyrotechnic noisemake
